verbal

Syllables: ver·balUK/ˈvɜː.bəl//ˈvɝ.bəl/

verbal adjective: of or relating to words.

Adjective

verbal (not comparable)

Of or relating to words.

Synonyms:

wordish
Concerned with the words, rather than the substance of a text.

Antonyms:

substantive
Consisting of words only.
- We subjoin an engraving […] which will give the reader a far better notion of the structure than any verbal description could convey to the mind.1864, Henry Mayhew, German Life and Manners as Seen in Saxony at the Present
- It was not a verbal remark, but a proceeding in dumb-show1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
Expressly spoken rather than written; oral.
- a verbal contract
- a verbal testimony
Derived from, or having the nature of a verb.

Synonyms:

rhematic
Used to form a verb.
Capable of speech.
- How do these language problems affect the behaviour of verbal children?2005, Avril V. Brereton, Bruce J. Tonge, Pre-schoolers with autism, page 55
Antonyms:

preverbal, non-verbal
Word for word.
- a verbal translation
Synonyms:

literal, verbatim
(obsolete) Abounding with words; verbose.
- You put me to forget a lady’s manners
  By being so verbal; and learn now, for all,
  That I, which know my heart, do here pronounce
  By th’ very truth of it, I care not for you1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...

Noun

verbal (countable and uncountable, plural verbals)

(countable) A verb form which does not function as a predicate, or a word derived from a verb. In English, infinitives, participles and gerunds are verbals.

Synonyms:

non-finite verb
(Ireland, UK, countable) A spoken confession given to police.
- They were convicted on the evidence of an agent provocateur named Richard Seary, backed up by police verbals from three police officers who gave evidence of six verbals in which the three accused were supposed to have admitted their guilt.1982, New South Wales. Parliament, Parliamentary Debates, page 2496
(Ireland, UK, colloquial, uncountable) Talk; speech, especially banter or scolding.
- We'd give him a bit of verbal, out would come the bouncers, chucking their weight about, and it would all end in a right tear-up.2013, Lenny McLean, The Guv'nor

Verb

verbal (third-person singular simple present verbals, present participle (US) verbaling or (UK) verballing, simple past and past participle (US) verbaled or (UK) verballed)

(Australia, UK, transitive) To allege (usually falsely) that someone has made an oral admission.
- The problem of 'verballing' is unlikely to disappear, whatever the legal status of the person detained.1982, John A. Andrews, Human Rights in Criminal Procedure: A Comparative Study, BRILL, →ISBN, page 128
- Condren had always claimed that he was assaulted and verballed by police over the murder he had supposedly confessed to committing. Specifically, Condren claimed that he had been subjected to assault and intimidation prior to making a police record of interview, that the record of interview was...2001, Chris Cunneen, Conflict, Politics and Crime: Aboriginal Communities and the Police, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN, page 116

verbal meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

verbal in Hindi

of, or relating to words: शाब्दिक śābdik
concerned with the words: शाब्दिक śābdik

verbal in Tamil

சொல்சார்ந்த, வாய்ப்பேச்சான, வாய்மொழியான

verbal in Urdu

فعلی, لفظی, لغوی, زبانی

verbal in Bengali

শব্দগত, বাচনিক, ক্রিয়াবাচক, আক্ষরিক

More languagesFewer languages

verbal in Telugu: వాచకము vācakamu
verbal in Malayalam: വാക്കാലുള്ള, എഴുതിത്തരാത്ത, രേഖപ്പെടുത്താത്ത, അലിഖിതമായ
verbal in Kannada: ಎಸಕದ, ಮೌಖಿಕ, ಶಾಬ್ದಿಕ, ಮಾತಿನ
verbal in Punjabi: ਵਰਬਲ
verbal in Gujarati: ક્રિયાવાચક kriyāvācak
verbal in Sanskrit: वाचिक vācika
verbal in Tagalog: makadiwa, malapandiwa
verbal in Arabic: كَلَامِيّ kalāmiyy, لَفْظِيّ lafẓiyy, شَفَهِيّ šafahiyy, شَفَوِيّ šafawiyy

Examples of verbal in a sentence

You can't have verbal communication with a man in New South Wales, you know.1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations:
I am not speaking of the verbal use of the term 'Fascist'.1944, George Orwell, “What is Fascism?”, in Tribune:
Condren had always claimed that he was assaulted and verballed by police over the murder he had supposedly confessed to committing.2001, Chris Cunneen, Conflict, Politics and Crime: Aboriginal Communities and the Police, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN, page 116:
Kelvin Condren maintained his innocence, claiming that he was 'verballed' in his police record of interview (so they were someone else's words not his).2019, Kate Burridge, Tonya N. Stebbins, For the love of language: An Introduction to Linguistics, page 305:

All 40 example sentences with verbal

Synonyms of verbal

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of verbal

Forms of verbal

Noun
plural	verbals
Verb
third-person singular present	verbals
present participle US	verbaling
present participle UK	verballing
past participle US	verbaled
past US	verbaled
past participle UK	verballed
past UK	verballed

Origin of verbal

From Old French verbal, from Late Latin verbālis (“belonging to a word”). Equivalent to verb + -al.

Words formed from verbal

Phrases with verbal

Words that rhyme with verbal

Questions about verbal

What does verbal mean?: Verbal means of or relating to words.
What is verbal in Hindi?: Verbal in Hindi is शाब्दिक (śābdik). See Verbal meaning in Hindi.
How do you use verbal in a sentence?: You can't have verbal communication with a man in New South Wales, you know.
What part of speech is verbal?: Verbal can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce verbal?: Verbal is pronounced /ˈvɜː.bəl/ (UK).

Words near verbal in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-verbal.ogg, en-us-verbal.ogg.

Cite this entry: “verbal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/verbal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.